“Low-Key RCR Diss”- Fearful of Dispute Among HMS Stars, Rick Hendrick’s Desperate Plea Leaves Racing Fans Recollecting Richard Childress’ Martinsville Shame

Hendrick Motorsports has maximized its chances of winning the championship. Entering the playoffs with two of its best drivers, the team has performed brilliantly collectively and will continue right off the bat at Phoenix. However, following last week’s incident between Richard Childress Racing drivers Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed in the Martinsville Xfinity race, doubts over the HMS team’s unity have clouded the build-up.

As for William Byron and Kyle Larson, one would expect them to know better than that. Larson has prior experience beating his teammate to the finish line. Having beaten Chase Elliott in the 2021 championship race, the former champion knows how to hold his horses. As for Byron, he has been the ambassador of clean and fast racing in the sport. Rarely involved in wrecks, the North Carolina youngster could also spring a surprise on Sunday. However, team owner Rick Hendrick has decided to take a cue from the pointers at Martinsville and has some advice for his title contenders.

Rick Hendrick promotes clean racing to prevent a repeat of the Richard Childress Racing feud

Sunday’s Xfinity Series race in Martinsville was a classic example of the dog-eat-dog nature of the sport. With only one spot left to claim for the championship race, Austin Hill and Sheldon tussled to get control over the lead. Eventually, they lost both of their chances after a multi-car wreck. JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier took advantage of the infighting to become the final driver for Phoenix instead.

Such situations are potential nightmares for team owners. While Richard Childress took Hill’s side in this fiasco and even went as far as calling Creed’stupid,’ Mr. Hendrick wants his drivers to avoid such a situation at all costs. Speaking on Channel 90 SiriusXM NASCAR radio, NASCAR’s winningest owner stated, “That has to be the worst scenario that any owner could ever have.”

“If they just finished where they were in the championship 4, and then to take each other out, but that’s something we work hard on all year long. It’s not just the last race. If you have to wreck, how many times is it going to come down to the two of you? Not very often. But if it does, race each other clean because what got you here is the strength of the organization working together. Don’t dump everything that you’ve built here. Don’t blow that up. If you can be clean, go ahead and do it.”

The HMS owner’s concern is reasonable, considering the stakes of the race. If an opening for a championship spot could trigger such infighting, one cannot help but fear the consequences of a championship race. Although there is a massive difference between racing in the Cup and Xfinity, one could never know.

“Don’t wreck each other because it just destroys the chemistry inside the company,“ added Mr. H. “That’s our philosophy and hopefully that won’t happen. But if it comes down to the two on Sunday, I just hope they can do it clean, and you can win it without wrecking the other guy.”

Following Rick Hendrick’s comments on the issue, the fanbase has managed to draw out indirect digs at the RCR team owner. After all, NASCAR fans love some controversy more than anything.

Read More: “That’s Why You Should Keep Your Mouth Shut” – Richard Childress Insider Takes a Dig at Himself Amid Martinsville Disaster  

NASCAR fans hint at a subtle dig by Rick Hendrick

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One of the significant differences between the two situations would be the contractual proceedings. Sheldon Creed had already announced that he would be switching to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2024, and that could have been a possible reason for not allowing Austin Hill to take the last spot in the final 4. One of the fans on Reddit highlighted the same aspect of the saga, as he commented,

“The RCR incident was a perfect storm highlighted by one driver leaving the company. They probably would have raced cleaner and coordinated better absent that one big ingredient.”

“Was it too hard for Richard to tell his guys to do the same thing before the Martinsville incident ?” commented another fan, implying that Richard Childress could have solved the rift between the two drivers. Instead of adding fuel to the fire by favoring Austin Hill, he could have been a pacifist instead of a catalyst.

Well, NASCAR fans love to create controversy through and through. Hinting at a possible dig from Mr Hendrick, one fan wrote, “It was a somewhat low-key RCR diss.” The HMS team owner was probably briefing his driver to avoid an unwanted situation amid a promising project for the team. William Byron and Kyle Larson are two of the best drivers in the series as of now, and a feud would only hurt their chances in the long run.

“Rick telling Richard how to not create controversy between his drivers.”, “This sounds like an ‘I do not want an RCR situation in my company’ statement”,  were some of the other comments aimed at RCR and Childress.

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Upon a fair assessment, it seems unlikely that someone as calm and composed as William Byron would enter into a dirty battle with Kyle Larson at Phoenix. Even more so with such high stakes and less time to waste on these things. However, what will unfold at Phoenix will only be revealed on a much-anticipated Sunday.